Disclaimer - I don't own any of the characters from FFVII . . . but Seph is my muse : )



Author's Notes - I'm so glad that many of you are enjoying my story. Many of you have asked good questions, and I do my best to answer them. This chapter should be entertaining, and informative. Enjoy, and please review.





Chapter 6 - Unexpected Meetings

Sephiroth watched the black blood flow down the blade of the Masamune, listening keenly to the silence around him for any sign of further predators. Hearing nothing, he dismissed the blade, retrieving his pack absently as he contemplated which route to take to Nibelheim. It felt like ages ago since he had taken this road . . . even though, in reality, it had only been about six or seven years. Sighing, he began to move forward, pushing his hair back from his eyes with one gloved hand as he scanned the land before him.

He'd left Midgar nearly a week ago now, traveling at as fast a pace as he could push himself. Mentally he was exhausted, his energy drained from keeping up a barrier that would shield his intentions from Jenova. He knew it was necessary however . . . the creature would move if she found out he knew where she was, and then he might never get a chance at her. Absently, he wondered if Vincent had found the information he had left on the computer for him.

"How did he react, I wonder . . . learning that he was the father of a monster?" Sephiroth murmured. "I am sure he was probably disgusted with the idea . . . I can not say that I blame him. Who, other than someone insane like Hojo, would want to admit that their son was an inhuman murderer who tried to destroy the world?" He shook his head, turning his attention away from such unnecessary thoughts back to the more immediate concerns. He was still formulating his plan to destroy Jenova . . . that was what he needed to concentrate on now, not the fact that he actually had a father who was not an insane scientist with delusions of grandeur.

Increasing his pace, Sephiroth lost himself in his plans, letting his feet guide him towards his only remaining goal.



*----------*----------*----------*----------*



"We have to be catching up . . . we know he's on foot, and we've got Chocobos," Cloud muttered for the second time in as many minutes.

"Spike, give it a rest. We didn't leave until a few days after he was gone . . . and you know that man can move fast when he needs to. We'll probably catch sight of him tomorrow . . . and then we can tie him onto a Chocobo and make sure he doesn't try to ditch us again." Even Cloud had to grin wryly at that image. The likeliness of them being able to tie Sephiroth to a Chocobo, and keep him there, if he chose to not be there, wasn't even remote, but the image served it's purpose, cheering the group considerably.

"Alright . . . we'll stop and make camp for the night. No sense trying to catch up to him dead tired." Cloud dismounted carefully, his muscles stiff. "You know, I think it's been way too long since we rode a Chocobo," he muttered to Tifa. Tifa giggled as she slid off the bird they had been sharing. The bird warked cheerfully, settling down for a rest, tucking it's head under it's wing. Cloud looked down at it, shaking his head in amusement. "Wish I could go to sleep that fast."

Tifa patted him comfortingly on the back, and turned to the rest of the group, who had already dismounted, many with sigh's of relief, and begun to set up camp. Only Vincent remained motionless, staring off towards the direction Sephiroth had taken.

"Vincent?" she asked quietly, going to stand next to him. He glanced down at her, then returned to his observation of the land ahead.

"I still can't believe it. It seems like it's been in front of me the whole time . . . the way he moves, the way he is built . . . he doesn't have a single bit of Hojo in him . . . so why didn't I see it before, Tifa?" Vincent murmured.

"We all believed Hojo, Vincent. Even Sephiroth thought Hojo was his father . . . Lucrecia was protecting all of you, in the only way she could think of." She lay a hand comfortingly on his arm, squeezing slightly until she had his attention. "It's not going to do you any good to dwell on it Vincent. We'll find him soon enough, and then we'll destroy Jenova, and the two of you will have all the time in the world." Vincent sighed and nodded.

"As usual, Tifa, you are right. There is nothing I can do about any of it right this moment, so I should not dwell on it." Turning, he silently returned to the others, Tifa watching him for a moment before turning to gaze out at the land herself.

"You're out there somewhere, Seph," she whispered. "Please, be all right."



*----------*----------*----------*----------*



Awake, my sleeping one. It is time.

"Time, master?"

For you to hunt down the traitor to our blood. My son . . . my puppet. Sephiroth.

"Yes . . . master."



*----------*----------*----------*----------*



He came awake suddenly, his senses alerted to a presence nearby that felt both familiar and strange at the same time. He stood slowly, his eyes scanning his campsite carefully, the Masamune materializing into his hand, held at ready. There was nothing out of place . . . the fire still burned, his pack remained where he had placed it. After several moments of quiet, he relaxed his stance, lowering his blade until the tip rested lightly on the ground.

"I must be getting paranoid," he muttered, a hand running through his platinum hair in annoyance. "This is ridiculous."

"I would say your instincts were right on the mark, old friend." Sephiroth spun to face the voice, sword held at ready as a figure stepped into the ring of firelight from behind him. The Masamune fell from suddenly numb fingers, clattering to the rocky soil and disappearing from sight.

"Zack," Sephiroth whispered, his voice hoarse as he forced it past a throat suddenly gone tight. Zack . . . his best friend, his only friend at one point in his life . . . the very friend who he had unfeelingly cut down in Nibelheim years ago in his rage. He pushed those feelings aside brutally, blinking rapidly to clear the fog from his vision. "You can not be Zack. Zack died years ago, in Nibelheim."

"Yes, I did . . . by your blade. My supposed friend," the figure spat out. "You monster. You never even told me what you were . . . what you are! And then you left me in death . . . left me for Hojo to find and experiment on. Now, because of you, I'm back . . . and I only have one purpose. Revenge."

"If you are Zack . . . then you know I had no memory of my past. I could not have told you, even had I wanted to."

"You chose not to remember. You LIED to me. You were never my friend . . . and now you are the enemy. You've always been the enemy." Sephiroth shook his head, his eyes flashing into green as his anger rose.

"No. I was never your enemy Zack. We were friends. I was not in my right mind when I attacked you. I would never have intentionally hurt you if I had been sane."

"No more lies, Sephiroth. NO MORE!" Zack tackled him suddenly. Sephiroth struggled, but he found that he could not hurt his friend. Zack was much stronger then he had ever been . . . which made Sephiroth wonder, subconsciously, just what Hojo had done to him. He stared up into Zack's face, the feral snarl marring his former friends features looking oddly familiar. The horrible realization came that it looked so familiar, because he had seen then same expression on his face, reflected back at him from a mirror of clear ice in the Northern Cavern nearly a year ago. His rage building . . . a rage directed at Hojo for turning his friend into what he had been . . . surged to the forefront of his thoughts. Sephiroth used that rage to fuel his muscles, shoving Zack off and away from him as he scrambled to his feet.

"I never lied to you Zack . . . but you are Zack no longer. Whatever Hojo has done to you . . . he has taken yourself away from you. You are not the person I knew." He summoned the Masamune again, the blade settling into his hand with a familiarity he no longer felt towards the man in front of him. "I am sorry, my friend . . . but it is best that I do for you what Cloud thought he had done for me a year ago. It is time I put you at rest." Zack laughed, a cold, mocking sound that Sephiroth was accustomed to hearing from his own throat.

"Not yet, old friend . . . not just yet. I will be back for you . . . but my master calls to me. I will have my revenge, Sephiroth . . . but only when I see fit to take it. First, I want you to suffer . . . suffer with the thought that what I am now is all . . . your . . . fault." Laughing, he stepped into the shadows, disappearing from Sephiroth's sight as quickly as he had come.

After the man had departed, Sephiroth fell to his knees, his head cradled in his hands, those last words echoing in his head. All his fault . . . it was all his fault. He had left his best friend to die . . . and instead Hojo had tried to recreate in him what he had failed to do in Sephiroth . . . create the perfect, controllable, super soldier.

Staring into the dying flames of the flickering fire, Sephiroth could only whisper to it desperately, trying to reach out to the man who had once been his friend.

"Zack . . . I am sorry . . ."



*----------*----------*----------*----------*



"There he is!" Reeve shouted back to his companions, pointing ahead to a small campfire that could be seen in the dawning light. They could just make out the figure of a man sitting, hunched over the flames, his head buried in his hands. Spurring their Chocobos forward, they raced to the camp, dismounting hurriedly as they arrived.

Sephiroth did not even look up at their approach, still lost in the agony of the reappearance of his former friend. He gazed into the fire, uncaring of the people who invaded his camp. 'Zack . . .' he thought in anguish. 'Hojo . . . how could you? Was I not enough?' A gentle hand on his arm attracted his attention, and he raised his head slowly to meet Tifa's concerned gaze.

"Sephiroth . . . what is it? What's wrong?"

"Zack . . ." he murmured. "Zack . . . is still alive." Cloud gasped, and dropped to his knees beside him.

"Sephiroth . . . what do you mean, Zack is still alive? He can't be . . . he died outside of Midgar!" Sephiroth shook his head, his agony showing clearly in his eyes.

"No . . . Hojo . . . Hojo brought him back . . . and turned him into a monster . . . it was Zack . . . but not. Zack . . . my friend . . ." He slumped forward, his agony and horror finally overwhelming him as he lost consciousness. He had taken too many shocks to his system, too many surprises in a matter of days. Cloud caught him, shivering himself as he thought about what Sephiroth had said..

"It's . . . it's not possible," he whispered.



*----------*----------*----------*----------*



Cloud spoke quietly, trying to keep his voice low so as not to wake the sleeping man at his back. He stared into the fire, his blue eyes glowing with long buried memories . . . memories he would rather have left buried. Instead, now he was dragging them back into the light . . . airing them in order to give the others some idea of why Sephiroth had reacted the way he had.

"Zack . . . was Sephiroth's lieutenant . . . and the only man to ever consider him a friend. They worked well together . . . as a team they were unstoppable. You all heard what happened in Nibelheim . . . what really happened, that is. I know Tifa told you of the discoveries we made during my time in the Lifestream. The memories I thought were my own were really Zack's. He . . . he died as we got to Midgar after escaping from Hojo . . . held off the Shin-Ra troops so that I could get away." Cloud shrugged, shaking his head. "I don't understand how he could still be alive . . ."

"Hojo did some horrible things in his time . . ." Vincent murmured. "He may very well have brought Zack back to life in some way. It would not be the first time he denied Death a victim." He glanced at Sephiroth as he said this, his crimson eyes darkening.

"We know, Vincent," Tifa murmured, her eyes also resting on Sephiroth. He had looked so lost . . . she hadn't seen him look so unbalanced, ever. Even when he'd lost his sanity in Nibelheim, he hadn't looked lost . . . he'd looked angry. Now . . . what new demons had returned to torment the man? Had he really seen Zack? And what could it mean if he had? She glanced around at the others, noting they all seemed lost in thought. She couldn't blame them . . . she was wondering the same thing. What new monster were they up against?



*----------*----------*----------*----------*



"I don't understand why you would not just let me kill him and be done with it, master. He is weak . . . my slight attack on him showed that. Why does he have to live?"

As I told you . . . this will hurt him far more then simply killing him would. I wish for him to suffer for his betrayal. Don't you dare go against my orders, child. You will do as I say in this matter. It is more . . . satisfying, this way.

"I will obey you, master."



*----------*----------*----------*----------*





Sephiroth came back to consciousness slowly, disoriented. He could hear voices . . . but hadn't he left the members of AVALANCHE back in Midgar? Confused, he opened his eyes slowly, turning his head to look at the figures around the campfire. So . . . they had come after him. Why? He sat up slowly, shaking his head to dispel the last of the fog clouding his mind.

A hand on his shoulder startled him. He hadn't realized someone was so close to him. He turned, looking over his shoulder to see who was so close. Blue/green met crimson, and Sephiroth sighed, closing his eyes again as he turned away.

"We need to talk," Vincent murmured gently, gripping Sephiroth's shoulder slightly. "We have much to discuss." Sephiroth nodded wordlessly, rising to his feet gracefully, and turning to face the man he now knew was his biological father. Together, they walked away from the group, approaching a nearby out cropping of rocks. Vincent perched absently on one, Sephiroth leaning up against it in the shadows.

"Sephiroth . . ." Vincent began, then paused, unsure suddenly of how to proceed. "How long . . . how long have you known . . . that it was me, and not Hojo?"

"Two months," Sephiroth replied. "I found the entry hidden in one of my mother's reports . . . a rough copy that accidentally got saved to file." He sighed, shifting uncomfortably, his platinum hair falling forward to hide his face from Vincent's sight.

"Why . . . why didn't you tell me?" Sephiroth snorted, standing up and turning to face Vincent, his arms held out wide in presentation of himself.

"Why would I? No monster, no matter how inhuman, wants to see the disgust and horror on their own parent's face." Vincent jumped down to stand before him, studying him intently before stepping forward, gripping Sephiroth's face, forcing him to meet crimson eyes.

"You are no more of a monster then I am, Sephiroth," he stated firmly. Sephiroth yanked his head away, stepping back and walking a few steps away before turning to face Vincent again.

"How could I not be a monster? I have killed thousands of innocents . . . not all of them by Shin-Ra's orders. I am not even human . . . just some hybrid lab experiment a demented scientist created out of what could have been a human boy. I do not age . . . physically, at any rate . . . I heal faster, move faster, fight faster . . . what more proof is needed? Hell . . . I even slaughtered people close to me . . . people who were supposed to be my friends!" He broke suddenly, his anger washing away in the flood of darkness that threatened to overwhelm him again. His shoulders slumped, platinum hair falling forward to hide his weakness as he fell silent, regaining control of himself.

Vincent regarded him silently for a few moments, allowing him to gather himself. When he did speak again, it was more to himself then to anyone else, even though he directed his words to Sephiroth.

"Your mother . . . loved you, Sephiroth. Even though she never got to hold you . . . never even got to see you once you were born . . . she still loved you. She had such hopes for you . . . hopes for a future that would be bright and glorious. She didn't know what Hojo was going to do with you once you were born . . . maybe if she had, she would have stopped it before it could have happened. Sephiroth . . . you are your mother's son . . . not Hojo's experiment, not Shin-Ra's great general. You are a man now . . . a man who can finally choose his own path, make his own destiny . . . what your mother wanted for you all along. You may have been a monster once . . . but no longer." Silently he removed a book from his inner cloak, holding it out to his son gently. "This . . . this is your mother's journal . . . that she kept while she was pregnant with you. I think . . . that you should read it." Sephiroth reached out hesitantly, his fingers hesitating over the bound journal as if he feared to touch it. Finally, he took it from Vincent's hand, staring down at it speculatively.

"My mother's journal . . ." he whispered. Vincent nodded. He fought the urge to step forward and embrace the man before him, knowing that they had a long road to walk before they were truly father and son, if they ever would be. It still amazed him to think of it . . . but it also explained many mysteries to him. Why Lucrecia had asked Vincent to watch over Sephiroth . . . and why she had seemed so sad as she did so. It also explained the strange empathy he'd always had with the enigmatic man . . . a tie that he had been unable to explain, even to Cloud when he'd asked.

"Sephiroth . . ." he said finally, breaking the silence. "I just want you to know that . . . I'm sorry. For not being able to be there for you. If I had known . . . even if I had only suspected . . . I would have stopped at nothing to get you away from Hojo." Sephiroth looked up at him, startled, but strangely calm. In an act that surprised both himself and Vincent, he stepped forward, resting a hand on Vincent's shoulder, blue eyes meeting crimson in a sudden moment of understanding.

"Even if you had known . . . there was nothing you could have done," he murmured. "I was too far gone, even in my youngest days . . . Jenova spoke to me even then. Nothing would have changed . . . I still would have eventually found out my origins as Hojo wanted, and fallen under Jenova's influence. That could not be stopped. None of what happened is your fault . . . father." They stood that way for a long time, a father and a son discovering each other for the first time.

Tifa watched them talk from the campfire, and smiled softly to herself as she saw Sephiroth rest his hand on Vincent's shoulder. Cloud nudged her gently, bringing her attention back to him, his eyes also fixed on father and son.

"Funny, isn't it?" he whispered, his blue eyes watching them intently. "They've both lost so much . . . it's like they've been echoes of each other all along." Tifa nodded, turning to stare into the fire.

"Yes . . . but I think they can really help each other, now that they know. Sephiroth is the son of Vincent's only love . . . and now, Vincent knows he is HIS son as well. As for Sephiroth . . . now he has a father . . . a real father, not that freak Hojo. Maybe . . . maybe with Vincent's help, he can start to understand life. And he can help Vincent rejoin life, instead of standing in the shadows all the time." She sighed. "I just hope we can defeat Jenova."

"Yes . . . that is a problem. We still don't know if Sephiroth found a way to defeat her . . . to destroy her." He shoved a hand through his hair, then straightened. "They're coming back."

The two men settled down at the fire, sitting near each other in silence, each lost in thought. Cloud was slightly amused to see the others staring at them, each member suddenly discovering the similarities between the two. The biggest difference was the hair color . . . and they could all easily just picture Sephiroth as Seth to fix that.

"Ya know . . . the two of ya's coulda been twins," Barrett muttered. Sephiroth turned to stare at him, his unblinking gaze making Barrett nervous for a second, before he smiled. Cloud wasn't quite sure which was scarier . . . Sephiroth glaring at a person with those glowing eyes of his, or Sephiroth smiling at said person.

The next surprise came in the form of Vincent . . . laughing. It was more of a chuckle, but it was more than they usually ever got out of the man. Sephiroth turned to look at Vincent, who shrugged at him.

"Well . . . he does have a point, Sephiroth. It's pretty obvious where your looks came from." Sephiroth just shook his head, obviously conceding the point.

"Oh, for Planet's sake . . . enough you two," Tifa said, grinning. "I think you've both managed to startle and surprise us enough for one day. We need to get back to the serious stuff." She shot an apologetic glance at Sephiroth, who's grin faded as he realized what she meant.

"You mean Zack . . ." he murmured.

"Yes . . . I'm sorry, but we really do need to know what happened. You weren't exactly coherent when we found you." Sephiroth shrugged, raking a hand through his hair as he stared into the fire.

"You are right, Tifa.. I do not understand it, but it was definitely him. It appears that Hojo attempted to recreate the experiment that created me . . . using a full grown human body, instead of an unborn child."

"What did he want?" Cloud asked. He was having almost as difficult a time as Sephiroth was with it. Zack had been a friend of his as well . . . if Zack had been brought back to life by Hojo, he wasn't sure how he should react.

"To taunt me. He said he wanted me to suffer . . . to suffer the knowledge that he was alive, and that it was my fault . . . before he kills me." He leaned back slightly to gaze up at the sky overhead. "But I wonder . . . if Jenova might have something to do with it. If so . . . then she knows I am coming for her."

"Is it wise, then, to go to Nibelheim?" Reeve asked quietly.

"I do not know . . . if she knows I am on my way there . . . then she may very well have lay a trap for me. But I do not know where else to go." Sephiroth sighed, and leaned forward again, his arms resting on his knees. "What I do not understand . . . is why you all came after me. This is my fight . . ." A cold nose shoved into the back of his neck had him sitting upright in shock. The others chuckled as Nanaki trotted back around to face him.

"The fight against Jenova is one all of us have reason to participate in. She is a danger not only to us, but to the Planet as a whole. We have named ourselves the protectors of this planet . . . and we have named ourselves your friends, if you will accept us. We cannot allow you to go into this battle alone, no matter what you may think," Nanaki said firmly, settling down in front of Sephiroth, his back against the man's knees. "If you choose to look at it another way . . . one less pleasant, but no less serious . . . should you face her alone, and fail, we may very well end up with an even deadlier enemy on our hands - You, under her control once again. None of us wish to see that come about . . . we have lived through that once, and that is enough."

"I think what Nanaki is trying to say . . . even if it is rather cryptic . . . is that you are stuck with us. You have a second chance at life Sephiroth . . . we'd rather not see you waste it by falling into her trap again," Cloud said, his arm tightly around Tifa. Sephiroth looked at him, and nodded in sudden understanding.

"It is not cryptic . . . if it is the truth. You are right . . . I succumbed to her once - should I let my guard down for even a second, she will have me again. That is a chance none of us can take. I had thought of that, but . . ." his voice trailed off as he looked around at them. "I did not want to endanger any of you," he whispered finally.

"Sephiroth . . . it is more of a danger to us should you fall to her then if we are with you going into the battle," Vincent said quietly.

"Yeah . . . I mean, damn man . . . we managed to face her and defeat that bitch once before. I'll be fucked if we can't do it again." Cid lit up another cigarette hurriedly, gesturing with his hands as he puffed at it. "That bitch is going down for good this time . . . we've got you this time, don't we? This time it should be a fucking piece of cake." Cid nearly started in shock when Sephiroth reached through the fire, grabbed the burning cigarette out of his mouth, and brought it to his own. He inhaled on it slowly, and coughed.

"I was wondering what the hell you found in these things," he murmured. "I think . . . I am still wondering. They taste like crap." He turned to the others, finding them all staring at him in shock. "What?" he asked irritably.

"Sephiroth . . . you just reached through the campfire like it was nothing!" Tifa gasped. He looked at her, puzzled.

"Was it supposed to do something?" he asked calmly, much as if he was asking about the weather. Cloud suddenly grinned.

"You're immune to fire, aren't you?" Sephiroth looked at him, one eyebrow quirking up in question.

"Fire does not hurt me . . ." he murmured in reply. Cloud actually sat back and laughed.

"Most people would have been burned, Sephiroth. That little demonstration just now explains something I've been wondering about for a while. But it's no matter . . . it's good to know." Sephiroth shrugged, and took another puff off the cigarette he stole from Cid. Cid just grinned, and lit another one.

"Well . . . do we continue on to Nibelheim, or try to find out where she might have gone to?" Reeve asked.

"I think . . . perhaps we should continue on to Nibelheim. Even if she is no longer there, perhaps she has left clues to where she has gone. As for any traps she may have left . . . she expects you to be alone. She won't be expecting any of us," Vincent said. The others nodded in agreement.

Sephiroth sighed, but did not try to dissuade them. A sense of foreboding filled him . . . he knew that something would be waiting for them in Nibelheim. Of what it would be, he had no idea . . . he just hoped that the others would come through it unscathed. He was sure that he would . . . he did not think Jenova wanted him dead . . . not just yet, at any rate.



To Be Continued